Periodic updates on developments in disability law and related fields.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Might Virginia Be Risking Another Olmstead Suit?

This time on mental health? The state's inspector general suggests so:

Virginia, already mired in a $2 billion settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, is again at risk of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act — this time for failing to release discharge-ready patients from state-run behavioral-health hospitals.

During a six-month period of review by the state’s inspector general for behavioral health, an average of 165 people per month were clinically ready to be released from Virginia’s eight adult mental-health hospitals, but could not be discharged — most often because of a lack of community-based housing.

During the review, about 13 percent of the system’s beds were occupied for more than 30 days by patients who had been cleared to leave. The operating capacity of the state’s eight facilities was 1,514 as of July 1.